Reel Lawn Mower - The Environmentally
Friendly Lawn Mower
By
Bjorgvin Arnason
Whatever your reason – saving on gas, getting more exercise, or helping the environment – considering the purchase of a reel mower is a good decision.
Reel mowers, those push lawn mowers that require no electricity, no gas, and just the energy of human movement, are becoming popular again.
These types of mowers, which can also be called walk-behind lawn mowers, are best for yards that are less than a half acre in size.
Remember, you’re going to be walking behind this push reel mower and although they are easier to push than in previous years, they still take a bit more effort than gas powered or electric mowers.
There are a few things to consider when thinking about purchasing a reel mower. First, you’ll have to keep your lawn mowed regularly.
Most push lawn mowers can’t handle grass that’s more than 1 1/2 to 2 inches tall, so if you let your grass go without mowing too long, you’ll have to seek other methods for cutting it.
Second, you can’t mulch when using a reel mower, so if this is important to you, consider a different type of lawn mower.
Third, if you are interested in saving money, a walk-behind lawn mower – or reel mower – is an excellent choice. They don’t take gas or electricity and are generally less expensive to purchase than other types of lawn mowers.
Many people purchase reel mowers for environmental or personal reasons. Push mowers produce no noise or emissions, so they are good for the environment and the neighborhood.
If you get up early on a Saturday, feel free to roll out your walk behind mower and mow while the neighborhood sleeps. Nobody will hear a thing and your yard work will be done before they even wake up.
With any purchase, you want to be informed before making a decision. Therefore, compare lawn mower types and various lawn mowers so you can make an informed decision.
There are four major types of reel mower: push, walk-behind power, ride-on power, and tow-behind gang mowers.
Push mowers have no motor and are used on small lawns. As the mower is pushed along, the wheels drive gears which rapidly spin the reel. Typical cutting widths are 12 to 20 inches.
The walk-behind, power reel mower exists in many variations. The 'greens mower' is used for the precision cutting of golf greens.
Unlike the push mower illustrated, these have the roller in front of the reel, the short putting green grass being little affected by this location for the roller. A motor spins the reel at great speed.
For residential lawns, the front roller is replaced by small wheels at the sides, and either an electric or an internal combustion engine powers the reel.
The operator pushes the mower along. The electric models can be corded or battery powered. Running times for the battery models range from 30 to 75 minutes, and 6 to 24 hours are required to fully recharge the batteries.
Most batteries can be recharged several hundred times. Cordless electric reel mowers weigh 30 – 35 pounds.
One type of walk-behind is now largely obsolete. These were powered versions of the push mower and were used for residential lawns.
An internal combustion engine sat atop the reel housing and drove the wheels, usually though a belt. The wheels in turn drove the reel, as in the push mower.
Riding power reel mowers can also be divided into two types: the 'triplex' which has three hydraulically driven independent cutting heads and is used for golf greens, and the larger 'fairway' machine that has five or seven hydraulically driven cutting heads.
Typically, the cutting reels are ahead of the vehicle's main wheels, so that the grass can be cut before the wheels push the grass over onto the ground.
Gang reel mowers are towed behind a tractor in sets (gangs) of three, five, or seven. They are 'ground-powered' that is, the tires of each cutting unit are geared to drive the reel. Gang mowers are used to mow large areas of turf such as sports fields or parks.
The cutting action of a reel mower can provide a very clean cut to the blades of grass, avoiding tissue damage. The cutting action is often likened to that of scissors; however, it is not necessary for the blades of the spinning reel to contact the horizontal cutting bar.
If the gap between the blades is less than the thickness of the grass, a clean cut is made as the spinning blades push the grass past the horizontal cutting bar.
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